Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and Values, Mrs Sarah Jibril, has described Nigerian politicians as social pollutants that had polluted the socio-political atmosphere of the country and hindered the system from working.
Speaking at a roundtable meeting on ‘Violence and Ethics In Electoral processes In Nigeria’ in Abuja yesterday, Mrs Jibril said the Nigerian electorate had, since the inception of the current dispensation, been victims of the philosophical bankruptcy of leaders, especially the political class.
She said absence of ethics and values was the beginning of the nation’s crises and woes, as evident in corruption, violence, bad leadership, moral decadence among other ills in the country.
“I am politician obviously, but I am not satisfied with the quality of politics and politicians in this country. I am pained for the display of wanton lack of shame that we tolerate as individuals and as a nation. It is a shame! Where are our moral values? And this is why we must strive to get it right at the family level; because the society is the end product of the family process.
“Politicians in this country need to know that they cannot continue to be social pollutants, causing violence and disunity among the various ethno-religious groups in the country which make up the polity. There is lack of institutional discipline which ordinarily could give the political class a broad view on the philosophy of life.
“Who listens to our community institutions anymore today? It is because there is breakdown of ethics and moral values in our society today. The electorate must take the responsibility of holding leaders accountable to the ethical expectations attached to their oath of office,” she added.
The special adviser on ethics and values noted that the main role of a leader, be it political or otherwise, was to teach character and values manifest in justice and fairness, but unfortunately, the political class in the country had been teaching and practising violence.
She also disclosed that her office has no budgetary allocation to execute its laudable programmes, and wondered how the talk about ethics and values could be taken seriously.
